Furnace cover

ABSTRACT

A movable cover for an industrial furnace having an upwardly opening well. The cover carries journalled rollers which travel along a pair of rails bracketing the cover. A pinion, journally mounted on the rails and rotated by drive means, meshes with a rack fixed on the cover to move the cover laterally along the rails. Preferably the surfaces of the rails are contoured to move the cover upwardly and downwardly over the furnace well, or the rails are severed with sections being vertically movable to move the cover upwardly and downwardly.

[4 1 Dec. 24, 1974 FURNACE COVER Inventor: Karl Sanderson, King City, Ontario,

Canada [73] Assignee: Lee Wilson Engineering Company of Primary Exami"er Kenneth Sprague Canada Ltd., Downsview, Ontario, Canada; a part interest Nov. 8, 1973 ABSTRACT [22] Filed:

[21] Appl. No.: 413,784 A movable cover for an industrial furnace having 'an upwardly opening well. The cover carries journalled rollers which travel along a pair of rails bracketing the O fgg Apphcatlon Prlomy Data cover. A pinion, journally mounted on the rails and Canada............,................... 182448 rotated by drive means, meshes with a rack fixed on the cover to move the cover laterally along the rails. Preferably the surfaces of the rails are contoured to [52] U.S. Cl.... 110/173 A, 110/177 1 F23m 7/00 move the cover upwardly and downwardly over the furnace well, or the rails are severed with sections being vertically movable to move the cover upwardly and downwardly.

[58] Field of Search............. 1lO/l73 R, 173 A, 177

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,013,278 l/19 12 Cromwell........................ 110/173 X 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FURNACE COVER This invention relates to industrial furnaces such as soaking pits.

Soaking pits, used for heating metal ingots or bars for rolling, are loaded from above and closed by a cover placed over the furnace well. Covers presently in use are moved by mobile cranes which grip the cover and move it laterally to open or close the soaking pit.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cover for a furnace which is movable without the use of a crane.

An example embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which: I

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a soaking pit having a cover' in opened position;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the pit and cover of FIG. 1 with the cover in opened position;

. FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the cover in closedposition;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the pit with the cover in closed position, taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a broken side view similar to FIG. 2 showing an alternate embodiment of the invention.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings a soaking pit has an upwardly opening well 12 circumscribed by walls 14 which terminate in a trough 16. A removable cover 18 rests on walls 14 with a downwardly extending rib 19 (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) loosely fitting into trough 16 to improve theheat seal of the pit.

Cover 18 lies between a pair of I-beams 20 supported by columns 21 and the cover carries a forward pair of journalled rollers or wheels 22 and a rearward pair of journalled rollers 23, both pairs of rollers bearing on a pair of rails 24 carried by the lower flanges of the I- beams. Rearward pair of rollers 23 are journally mounted on brackets 25 fixed on cover 18 and extending' rearwardly therefrom. Of course the lower flange of each I-beam 20 could form a rail 24.

Cover 18 carries a pair of racks 26 fixed to its upper surface and parallel to I-beam 20. A transverse shaft 28 is journally mounted in brackets 30 fixed on l-beams 20. A pair of pinions 32 are keyed to shaft 28 and mesh with racks 26. One I-beam 20 also carries a drive motor 34 which is coupled with shaft 28 through a reducer 36 and bevel gears 38. v

The bearing surfaces of rails 24 are contoured to provide a pair of forward depressions 39 and a pair of rearward depressions 40 which accommodate pairs of rol lers 22 and 23 when cover 18 is directly above well 12 of pit 10, allowing rib 19 to drop into trough 16 circumscr'ibing the top of the well. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rearward edges 17 of the frontward and rearward portions of trough 16 are bevelled at an angle A, and corresponding edges of rib l9 and depressions 39 and 40 are likewise bevelled, to allow pairs of rollers 22 and 23 to move into and out of the depressions more easily.

In the operation of the described embodiment, rib 19 on the underside of cover 18 rests in trough 16 of walls 14 when the cover is directly above well 12 and pit 10 is closed, 'thus providing an effective heat seal for the pit. In this closed position of cover 18, pairs of rollers 22 and 23 rest in pairs of depressions 39 and 40 of rails 24. To open well 12 of pit l0, drive motor 34 is actuated which rotates pinions 32 and moves rack 26 longitudinally and rearwardly. This action moves cover 18' rearwardly in the direction of arrow 42 (see FIG. 2)

and causes pairs of rollers 22 and 23 to rise out of depressions 39 and 40 which allows rib 19 to clear trough 16 of walls 14 by raising the cover upwardly. As pinions 32 continue to be rotated, cover 18 continues to move rearwardly and exposes well 12 for loading or unloading. The spacing of the pair of rearward rollers 23'and the pair of rearward depressions 40 away from pit 10 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) allows cover 18 to be moved clear of the well 12 without the forward pair of wheels 22 dropping into forward depressions 39 of rails 24. To close pit10, drive motor 34 is reversed to move cover 18 back over well 12.

The teeth of rack 26 and pinions 32 are of sufficient depth to keep them engaged when cover 18 dropsover well 12. Of course asingle .rack and pinion may be used. In the alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 5, rails 24 (and l-beams 19) are severed to form sections where wheels 21 rest when cover 18 is in its closed position above well 12 of pit 10. Gaps 52 are provided between the ends of rail sections 50 and the adjacent portions of rails 24, allowing for vertical movement of the rail sections. An hydraulic jack 54' is located below each rail section 50 and moves vertically against the section. A notch 56 in each section 50 centres wheel 21 on the section.

In the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 5 cover '18 is moved along rails 24 as before until it reaches a position directly above well 12 of'pit 10, in which position wheels 22 are located on rail sections 50 and in notches 56. Jacks 54 are then actuated to lower rail sections 50 until rib 19 seats in trough 16. To open pit l0, jacks 54 are actuated to raise rail sections 50 whereupon cover 18 may be moved laterally along rails 24.

It will be appreciated that cover 18 may be constructed without a downwardly projecting rib, in which case depressions 39, 40 or rail sections 50 may not be required. Also, I-beams 20 may be supported on hydraulic jacks and moved vertically to raise and lower cover 18if required. I

I claim:

1. In an industrial furnace having an upwardly openis keyed on a shaft bridging the rails and journally mounted thereon.

3. A furnace as claimed in claim 2 in which the cover carries a pair of racks one adjacent each rail, and the shaft carries a pair of pinions keyed thereon.

4. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 in which the rails are the lower flanges of a pair of I-beams.

5. A furnace as claimed in claim 4 in which the drive means is fixed on one of the I-beams and the pinion is keyed on a shaft bridging the rails and journally mounted thereon.

are movable in a substantially horizontal plane upwardly and downwardly in unison.

9. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 in which the rails are severed to form sections located to support the roller members when the cover is positioned above the well of the furnace, and means to lower said sections to close the well. 

1. In an industrial furnace having an upwardly opening well; a pair of spaced apart, parallel, substantially horizontal rails; a cover located between the rails and carrying journalled roller members movable along the rails; at least one rack fixed on the cover; a pinion engaging the rack; and fixed drive means connectable to rotate the pinion whereby the cover is movable laterally to close and open the well of the furnace.
 2. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 in which the drive means is fixed on at least one of the rails and the pinion is keyed on a shaft bridging the rails and journally mounted thereon.
 3. A furnace as claimed in claim 2 in which the cover carries a pair of racks one adjacent each rail, and the shaft carries a pair of pinions keyed thereon.
 4. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 in which the rails are the lower flanges of a pair of I-beams.
 5. A furnace as claimed in claim 4 in which the drive means is fixed on one of the I-beams and the pinion is keyed on a shaft bridging the rails and journally mounted thereon.
 6. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 in which the rails are fixed on I-beams and the drive means is mounted on at least one of the I-beams.
 7. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 in which the surfaces of the rails supporting the roller members are contoured whereby the cover is lowered when moved to close the well of the furnace and raised when moved laterally to open said well.
 8. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 in which the rails are movable in a substantially horizontal plane upwardly and downwardly in unison.
 9. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 in which the rails are severed to form sections located to support the roller members when the cover is positioned above the well of the furnace, and means to lower said sections to close the well. 